TOPIC 9: COMPPUTER ASSEMBLY &

DISASSEMBLY

Introduction to Computer Hardware Inventory

Hardware, in the computer world, refers to the physical components that make up a computer
system.

There are many different kinds of hardware that can be installed inside, and connected to the
outside, of a computer.

Below is a list of external hardware and internal hardware that may be found with a
computer.

External hardware examples

• Projector - a projector is an output device that can take images generated by a computer and
reproduce them on a large, flat (usually lightly colored) surface. For example, projectors are
used in meetings to help ensure that all participants can view the information being
presented.
• Scanner - a hardware input device that allows a user to take an image or text and convert it
into a digital file, allowing the computer to read or display the scanned object.
• Speakers8
• USB thumb drive - a portable drive that is often the size of your thumb that connects to the
computer USB port.
• Flat-panel, Monitor, and LCD - screen displays
o Monitor, alternatively referred to as a video display terminal (VDT) and video display
unit (VDU), comprised of a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) and a fluorescent screen as display
system.
o Liquid-Crystal Display, LCD is a flat display technology. The LCD is made of two
 sheets of a flexible polarizing material with a layer of liquid crystal solution between the
two and available as an active matrix, dual-scan, or passive-matrix display. i.e. in laptops
o FPD, a flat-panel display is a thin screen display. Flat-panel displays use Liquid-crystal
display (LCD) technology to make them much lighter and thinner when compared with a
traditional monitor. I.e. in TFT displays.
• Keyboard
• Microphone
• Mouse
• Printer

Internal hardware examples

• CPU - Alternatively referred to as the brain of the computer, processor, responsible for
handling all instructions it receives from hardware and software running on the computer.
 • Drive (e.g. Blu-Ray, CD-ROM, DVD, floppy drive, and hard drive)
• Fan (heatsink) - A heat sink is an electronic device that incorporates either a fan or a peltier
device to keep a hot component such as a processor cool.
• Modem - Short for MODulator/DEModulator The Modem is a hardware device that enables
a computer to send and receive information over telephone lines by converting the digital data
used by your computer into an analog signal used on phone lines and then converting it back
once received on the other end.
• Motherboard - printed circuit board , located at the bottom of the computer case. It allocates
power to the CPU, RAM, and all other computer hardware components. Most importantly, the
motherboard allows hardware components to communicate with one another.
• Network card - Short for Network Interface Card, the NIC is also referred to as an Ethernet
card and network adapter. It is an expansion card that enables a computer to connect to a
network; such as a home network, or the Internet using an Ethernet cable with an RJ-45
connector.
• RAM
• Sound card - Alternatively referred to as a sound board or audio card, a sound card is an
expansion card or integrated circuit that provides a computer with the ability to produce sound
that can be perceived by the user through a peripheral device like speakers or headphones.
• Video card - Alternatively referred to as a display adapter, graphics card, video adapter,
video board, or a video controller, a video card is an internal circuit board that allows a display
device such as a monitor to display images from the computer.

Hardware upgrading
A hardware upgrade is any new hardware better than that which it replaced or additional
hardware that improves performance. A good example of a common hardware upgrade is a RAM
upgrade, where the user increases the computer's total memory. Another good example is a video
card upgrade, which is the act of removing an old video card and replacing it with a newer, better
one.

Benefits of a hardware upgrade

1. Performance increase, which make the overall computer run faster and more smoothly.
2. Capacity increase. For example, adding a new hard drive allows the computer to store
more information, and more memory increases the computers ability to run more.
 3. It may be necessary to upgrade the computer to meet a program or games system
requirements.

Choosing the Right Upgrade

It's important to understand at least the basics about what's going on inside your computer, and
what a hardware upgrade can and cannot do. You can't turn a slow computer into a fast one
simply by increasing the size of a hard drive. Likewise, upgrading the computer's processor
probably won't make a computer that's prone to crashing more reliable.

Here are some guidelines for deciding what to upgrade.

Type of Guidelines Difficulty

Upgrade
RAM To see the biggest increase in performance, increase the amount of Moderate
RAM in an older computer. A good sign you could benefit from
more RAM is if your computer slows down a lot when you try to
use several programs simultaneously.

Put in as much RAM as the computer will support. Keep in mind

that a 32-bit operating system can only handle 4 GB of RAM.
Graphic Because graphics processing uses RAM, a graphics card upgrade Moderate
s card may improve overall performance. If you work with a lot of digital
video, you can probably benefit from adding RAM and/or
changing from an integrated or "on-board" graphics card to a
dedicated graphics card.

Be sure that your motherboard can support the new card you are
installing.
 Hard If you're running out of storage space, you can upgrade to a bigger Moderate
drive hard drive with more storage capacity. to
Advanced
If your computer is slow, upgrading to a faster hard drive may
improve overall performance:

• In traditional drives, the faster the drive spins, the faster

data can be read and written. So upgrading from a drive
that spins at 5,400 rotations per minute (rpm) to a 7,200-
rpm drive may speed up your computer's performance.
• A solid-state drive (SSD) is another option. SSDs don't
spin, so their speed isn't measured in rpms. But they are
significantly faster and (because they have no moving
parts) less prone to mechanical problems than traditional
drives.

If your old drive is still functional, consider adding a drive instead

of removing and replacing the older one. Most desktop computer
motherboards can handle up to four hard drives, including the
optical drive.

Completely replacing a hard drive will involve some additional

steps, since you need to transfer all your files from the old drive to
the new one, as well as reinstalling the operating system and all the
software.
Optical Upgrading from a CD drive to a DVD drive allows you to take Moderate
(CD/DV advantage of the increased capacity of DVDs over CDs. The
D) additional capacity of DVDs makes copying files or backing up
drive easier and less time-consuming.

In terms of difficulty, the mechanical part of replacing an optical

 drive is similar to replacing a hard drive, but you don't have to
worry about moving files or transferring software.
Processor A faster processor can help your computer run faster, but this is not Advanced
(CPU) an easy upgrade and should be approached with caution. Keep in
mind that performance improvements with a faster processor may
be negligible without sufficient RAM.

When installing a new processor, the key consideration (besides

number of cores and speed) is finding one that will work with your
motherboard.

Disassembling and Assembling the computer system

Disassemble is the process of breaking down a device into separate parts. A device may
be disassembled to help determine a problem, to replace a part, or to take the parts and
use them in another device or to sell them individually. For example, if a computer has a
bad processor a user may need to disassemble the computer to get to the bad processor
and replace it with a good processor.

Assemble is to fit or join together (the parts of something, such as a computer).

The assembling of the computer system is exactly the opposite of disassembling

operation.

Steps on how to disassemble a computer

1. The first thing you do, is unplug every cable that’s plugged in to your computer.
2. Now that your computer is fully unplugged, move your PC to a clean work space,
preferably a carpet. The carpet is better than tile, because screws and other small
parts will roll around.
3. Remove outer Shell/Casing
4. Now that the case is off, begin to remove the internal components which is system
fan. Remove the CPU fan.
5. Unscrew the power supply.
6. Unscrew or disassemble DVD or CD Drive.
7. Remove or unscrew the Card reader (Available in new computer)
8. Remove the hard Disk Drive.
9. Remove the Expansion Card slots.
10. Remove the Connectivity Center Cables
11. Remove RAM (Random Access Memory)
12. Remove Power Button & Power LED + HDD LED
13. Remove the Connectivity Center
14. Remove Motherboard.